A medical doctor, Edith Onovore, has narrated to a Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja how a 10-year-old rape victim she examined was gagged, raped and was still bleeding three days after the incident.
Onovore, a prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of one Samuel Olaide over the allegation of raping a minor, also testified that the survivor’s pants had bloodstains, and even the sanitary pad she wore was soaked in blood.
Olaide is standing trial before Justice Rahman Oshodi on a one-count charge of alleged unlawful defilement of the victim, preferred against him, by the Lagos State government.
The prosecution told the court that the defendant committed the offence at an uncompleted building on April 19, 2022, at about 1 or 3 pm.
The state maintained that the offence committed on Odorogba Street, Iragunshi Eredo, Epe, in Lagos State, violated section 137 of the criminal law of Lagos State 2015.
The witness, who was the first prosecution witness and led in evidence–in–chief by state prosecuting counsel Bukola Okeowo, told the court that when the victim was brought to the Epe General Hospital, she observed that the victim was calm and did not show any form of distress.
She revealed that when she examined the reproductive system of the victim, the vagina was red, there were bruises on the outer part of the vagina, and the hymen was missing.
The doctor, who said she has been practising for 12 years and has been working with the Epe GeneralHospital for three years, said the victim narrated to her that she was in her mother’s shop when Olaide, who lives in the neighbourhood, came and dragged her out.
She said that the victim told her that Olaide used a white handkerchief to gag her mouth so that she would not be able to scream for help and then took her to an uncompleted building where he raped her.
When Okeowo asked her to explain further about her observation during the examination conducted on the victim, Onovore said, “The general observation was that there was no show of pain, the hymen was missing, and the sanitary pad she came with was already soaked in blood and her pants as well.
“Penetration into the vagina can cause the hymen to be missing; forcefully putting a hand into the vagina can cause bruises and the hymen missing”.
The witness also told the court that she carried out viral screening for both the victim and the defendant to see if they were HIV positive.
She said,” We also did screening for the rapist to know if he had HIV. Her vagina was forcefully and brutally penetrated because the signs were there.
“There was repeated force trauma and too much bleeding.
“When asked if that was the usual thing they do in the hospital, she said, “Yes, we do request that they bring them back to the police station.
“She asked whether she saw the defendant when he was screened, and she answered that she could not see him, but she confirmed that he was presented at their hospital for the screening.
The prosecutor asked her what other steps she took after the examination; she told the court that after the examination, she counselled the victim and commended her for coming forward to report the incident because most people do not.
Under cross-examination by the defence counsel Mandy Asagba, the witness said she attended to the victim on April 22, 2022, about three or four days after the incident.
She said that the entrance into the vaginal was bruised and that in cases of rape, there is no usual way the victims appear, but that there is a way the vagina appears. Onovore added that the way the vagina appears is the duration and the age.
“The younger the child, the more traumatic for the vagina because of the size. “ In this circumstance, being the victim was 10- years –old, the extent of the trauma was much; even up to the time I was examining her, there was still blood and bruises.
“The pad she used and her pants were soaked. It means that it would have been worse than that when she was just raped,’ she said.
Asked whether she saw any sperm in the vagina during the examination, she said no, “ I did not know any sperm in the vagina.
She also said that the victim was awake, so she saw the person who raped her and so was able to identify him.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case to February 11, 2025, for continuation of trial.
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